The Future, Coming Soon Enough

PRETEND, FOR THE SAKE of argument, that global warming is a hoax (which it isn't). The world is not getting hotter and drier (which it is). Even if that were true, (which it isn't), the world population is still increasing, and will reach at least nine billion before beginning to level off, if it levels off at all. Meanwhile, the amount of water is not increasing along with the population. And, if global warming happens to be real, which it is, then many parts of the world, including the United States, will be getting hotter and drier over the next several decades. Any environmental or population scientist will tell you that there is a water problem looming. The millions of people who will move into the American west over the next several decades either will not know about the water shortage, or they will not care about it. Either way, it seems strange that more isn't being done to prepare for the inevitable shortage of water. Then too, there's the huge underground volcano covering the state of Wyoming which erupts every 640,000 years, and is currently overdo. If the Yellowstone caldera erupts, all bets are off. Add it to the list of things we like to pretend will never happen, but will. Yes, Yellowstone will erupt, with huge and hideouse fury, within a few thousand years, if not sooner, if not tomorro. If humans are still here, they will have to wear gas masks for a long time. Yes, a very big asteroid will hit the earth, sooner rather than later. We need to be ready for it, because if we don't stop it, it might kill us all. The caldera probably won't erupt during the lifetime of anyone now alive, we can probably keep postponing national bankruptcy for at least another twenty years or so, and maybe we'll find some fresh water, somewhere. But we'd better get ready, now, for the asteroid. "In the earthquakes to come it is to be hoped I shan't allow bitterness to quench my cigar's glow", wrote Bertolt Brecht. "I never think much about the future",said Einstein, "it comes soon enough." Deos it ever...